Christmas fruit cake
My mums old fruit cake recipe, enjoy
2.3 min Main Ingredient: Fruit*Egg*Butter*Raisins Cuisine: American
Cooking: 2.30 - 3.30 hours Start to finish: 1 day minIngredients
Cake:
225g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
200g butter
200g dark brown sugar
2 tbsp black treacle
1 tbsp marmalade
1/4tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs, lightly beaten
800g mixed dried fruits
100g chopped mixed peel
150g glace cherries, halved
100g blanched almonds, chopped
brandy
Decoration:
200g marzipan
1-2 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
Icing:
3 egg whites
600g 5oz icing sugar, sieved
11/2tsp liquid glycerine - optional
1 tbsp lemon juice
Nutrition Facts
Calories
500Directions
Step 11. Heat the oven to 150C. Grease a 8inch round or an 7inch square cake tin and line the bottom and sides with baking parchment.
Step 22. Sieve the flour, salt, mixed spice and cinnamon into a bowl.
Step 33. Cream the butter and the sugar in a large mixing bowl and then mix in the sugar, treacle, marmalade and vanilla essence until light and fluffy.
Step 44. Mix the eggs a little at a time into the mixture adding a tablespoon of flour mixture with the last amount.
Step 55. Fold in the remaining flour mixture until well mixed and then mix in the dried fruit, mixed peel, glace cherries and the almonds.
Step 66. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and make a slight hollow in the centre.
Step 77. Bake in the oven for 3 hours and then test with a skewer. If not ready bake for up to another hour testing every 20 minutes until the skewer comes out clean.
Step 88. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes.
Step 99. Turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool.
Step 1010. Once cool, make a few holes in the cake with a skewer and pour over 3-4 tbspof brandy. Let the brandy soak into the cake.
Step 11Decoration:
Step 121. Place the cake on a foil board or cake plate.
Step 132. Dust your hands and the work surface with a little icing sugar and knead the marzipan until soft.
Step 143. Roll out half the marzipan to fit the top of the cake and roll out the rest in strips to fit around the sides of the cake.
Step 154. Brush the cake all over with the warmed apricot jam and then place the marzipan on top and around the cake.
Step 165. Cover the cake with a clean tea towel and then leave in a cool place for at least one day.
Step 176. To make the icing, lightly whisk the egg whites adding the sugar at intervals. Beat well until the icing reaches soft peaks. Add the glycerine if using and the lemon juice.
Step 187. Spread icing all over cake either flat iced using a clean ruler or by forming soft peaks.
Step 19Decorate with Christmas ornaments.
